Creating Faux Stitching

Hey All!

Just popping into my blog to share a really quick and easy technique using a Tim Holtz ruler to create a faux stitch look on paper.

Step 1
Ensure your paper is lined up to grid lines on your craft mat or alternatively use a foam mat underneath just ensure you create a couple of pencil marks at either end as a guide to keep the ruler straight (note that using a foam mat will create larger holes). Punch the required amount of holes.

Step 2

Using a good quality marker (I have used a copic multi-liner 0.5mm) and the ruler draw lines between the holes.  You can leave little gaps between them or fill them in!

You can use different coloured markers depending on your project and if you don't feel like getting out your threads this can be a way of achieving a similar look obviously without the texture - just depends on you project. 

Thanks for stopping by and ....

Keep Creating

Wendy

Mixed Media! What's All the Fuss About!

Hello There!

Where does the time go, I make a promise every month that I will do at least a couple of blog posts a month and then when I look at the calendar again a whole month has gone by!!! First world problems I know!  Anyway today I want to talk about the phenomenon that is "mixed media" and how it seems to have taken the papercrafting industry by storm over the past couple of years.

Firstly let me just say that I don't identify as a mixed media artist nor will I ever be! Mixed media is defined broadly as the use of various materials to create visual art as opposed to the use of one medium like only using oil paints for painting or stone for sculpture.  Keeping this in mind and applying this to a simple handmade card if you use distress ink and sprays effectively you have created a mixed media card!

At the moment in every facet of the papercrafting world, mixed media are buzz words, everyone who is anyone is doing mixed media and have been for the last few years.  But let's really sit back and think about what's new in the industry?  Looking at the recent pics and video's from CHA except for a few items there is not really much that is new more like new take on old products.  So is it really fair of us to keep pushing the teachers in this industry to come up with new stuff all the time? Yeah probably not.  

So I just ask you to give teachers that don't do mixed media a chance - don't write them off entirely as you never know what you can learn from someone.

When I write these posts I do like to include a picture related to the topic I am harping on about so I have including a little mixed media canvas I did for Imaginarium Designs last year.  Mixed media only because I used Colour Blast Shimmer Cubes and Mica Powders on the one project.

 Keep Creating

Wendy

Embellishments!

Hi Everyone

And before I forget Merry Christmas and hope you will all eventually get some time to sit down and relax and maybe after all the relatives are gone you might get one or two days off to actually get some crafting done.

So the topic of embellishments has been playing on my mind for a while - probably for about six months as it was around this time I started seeing and hearing a lot about flowers in relation to scrapbooking, cardmaking, off-the-page and mixed media!  Now if you are a huge fan of what I commonly refer to as "flower vomit" you need to stop reading now as you are probably not going to like what I have to say.  

It seems there has been a huge shift to using flowers as the main embellishment on pages or cards to the extent that I saw not to long ago a male birthday card with a fish and then a big bunch of flowers down the side!!! This goes back to an earlier blog post I did about creating with a theme in mind and then creating with balance, this card had an identity crises not knowing if it was going fishing or coffee with the girls!! Now I am not saying you can't use flowers on male projects BUT I have only ever seen a few where this works.  So what to take from this - it seems like when we really don't know what to fill the blank space up with a lot of ladies are just reaching for flowers instead of deciding "what is my theme", what do I have in my stash that I can use to make an embellishment that is related to my theme.  I have a few ladies who come to my classes who don't like a lot of flowers so this forces me to think outside of the box when it comes to embellishments.  If flowers are your signature style that is great, continue to spread the love of flowers but if your cards, pages and other projects are all starting to look the same and you are bored then try something else.  I have listed some ideas below to get you thinking about what you can use instead of flowers all the time:-

• Metal Embellishments (again we don't want to see "metal vomit" unless that's your thing).
• Make your own tassels
• Appropriate ribbon, string, hemp, burlap
• Buttons
• Enamel dots 
• Try using just a 3 flowers instead of 33
• Look at your paper stack and make embellishments from it
• Beads, rocks & stones or elements from nature
• Eyelets - in my opinion perfect for male cards / projects and by far not given enough exposure
• Die cuts
• Chipboard
• Stickers
• Brads
• Feathers
• Pegs 
• Anything made from wood
• Stamped Sentiments
• Doilies
• Make your own banners and flags from toothpicks and paper
• Mini Stapler
• Wool
• Washi Tape
• Old Watch Parts & old jewellery
• Scrabble Pieces
• Paper clips
• Straws
• Nails, screws and stuff hubby might have in the garage
• Tickets and stubs
• Bling (again where appropriate)
• Make your own mini fans and envelopes (tutorials on you tube everywhere).
• Jewellery wire or copper wire.

I could just keep typing but you get the picture, I know that a beautiful card or layout will mostly likely have a few of these embellishments for "balance" and to create "layers" and "texture" and that is what you should be looking for.

Couple of pictures of some of my earlier cards where I have made a retirement card for a man and and cute card using "Gorjuss" paper tole with just some pegs and a "molded" hard plastic flower.

So please stop going into the embellishment garden and picking all the flowers just pick enough for what you need to create something truly memorable. 

Have an awesome Christmas look forward to seeing you next year at one of my classes.

Keep Creating!

Wendy

Paper Piecing - With Stamps!

Hi All!

Just want to do a quick blog post this week and thought I would touch on "paper piecing" using stamps.  Below is a card I made some years back using this type of technique and I love the looks you can achieve with it.  If you google paper piecing my goodness there is no shortage of information, but one thing you will notice is the stamps used have nice clean lines and little or no fine details.  The reason for this is that often the stamps you use for piecing are also used with alcohol markers like copics to colour in, therefore they have nice big areas which you can create depth and shadows.  In my experience these are the best stamps to use, as you can see with my cards I have chosen a mannequin stamp which does have some detail but not too much.  

Paper piecing is super easy just stamp the image on the plain piece of card stock and then again on a patterned card stock of your choice and cut the image on the outside of the line - this is the most important. If you cut inside the line it's just not going to look as finished.  Stick your patterned pieces over the images on your plain card stock and wallah!!! You are done!

That's all from me - I need to pack for my retreat on the weekend!!! EEEK - going to create one of Jane Tregenza's lovely books at Brookfield, and I can't wait I have been looking forward to this for months.  Will keep you updated on facebook of what we are making!

Keep Creating!

Wendy

Creating With a "Theme"

Hi Everyone

Hope you all had a terrific weekend and managed to do a little creating!  Today I want to talk a little bit about creating with a theme in mind! Now a few of you will most likely just raise your eyebrows and say "nope I just sit down and start putting things together and go with what works".  That is totally fine if it works for you.  If every time you sit down to make a layout or a card you struggle to get something you are happy with then read on.  

I always create with a theme in mind, even for cards.  The reason being is that I find my designs come together so much easier.  The theme might be the colours, the picture, the embellishments, the paper collection, the event (birthday or anniversary) or a set of stamps and dies.  I am going to use the canvas I did for Imaginarium Designs a couple of months ago as an example.

Firstly our brief was a "selfie layout" now I don't scrapbook so I chose a canvas.  I knew the photo I wanted to use was of myself wearing a sombrero, when I saw the "Sugar Skull" stencil I new that was what I wanted in the background.  The Day of the Dead is a celebration in Mexico where sugar skulls are used to celebrate the lives of loved ones passed away. I have a picture of the little skulls below that they make from white sugar. Now can you see where I am going with this? Once I had chosen the stencil and the colour paste in "deep water" I knew that I wanted to use orange in order for the word "fancy face" to stand out.  Can you also see how the swirly bits on the word match the stencil?  Tick, my colour theme is chosen and the skull and the word tie together.

I also had some barbed wire / thorn flourishes and knew that I was going to add some silver embellishments later on so I used "snow white" embossing powder to bling these up, can you see again I have tied in the Graphic 45 - Steampunk Spells cardstock to match and then added a rose. Again it ties together.  The dragonfly and arrowhead strangely enough were just a random selection but actually mean "change" and "alertness" which is very representative of life in general.

I love, love, love little crochet doilies and would put them on everything if you let me so I searched around and found a lovely little orange one topped it with a cog (cogs represent the inner workings of my brain!!!!) and a tassel (another item I love using).  I did have a little silver pistol I was going to poke under the doilies given what occurs in Mexico everyday but thought better (it did actually match really well).

Mini Sugar Skulls

I put this to you, do you feel your cards / layouts are a muddled mess some of the time?  Then just stop, look at one item on the card or layout you want to focus on either a stamp, a photo, or the paper and create your project around this. This also applies to art journaling, when you really look at some of the best in the business their art journal pages always, always, always have a theme, it might be colour, the writing, the free hand shapes of circles and squares, trust me if you look hard enough there is a theme in them all.

Even if you have a particular go to style you can apply this same style around different themes and this is probably the most important take away from this post.  True, I have a more vintage, grunge style but as long as I work out my theme I can work with bright and bold or shabby chic!  Speaking of which someone in my world has challenged me to create some shabby chic cards, as they know how much I dislike that style so you know what, I am going to take that challenge and will create something in the next couple of months just to show that even when you are not in your comfort zone as long as the theme is right the rest will fall into place.

I will be posting all my Deisgn Team work here (I know I have a few to catch up on) but I will be covering the "why" on my blog and the "how" on the Imaginarium Blog so stay tuned.

Next post will be about "embellishments" and do's and dont's (in particular I will touch on flowers and why peeps tend to over-use them as an embellishment).

Keep Creating
Wendy

Why Create?

Hi Everyone!

I know it has been a while since my last post even with all the best intentions to keep regular with my blog posts, I probably underestimated how much time it actually takes to write with purpose.  I wanted all the crafty people out there who took the time to visit my blog to get something from it.  

However what should have been evident to me is that, this is my blog to express my feelings and opinions about whatever the hell I want (mainly about crafting). The views I express here around scrapbooking, cardmaking and off the page projects are my own, from what I have observed since making my first card over 20 years ago. I see what works and I see what doesn't - I share as I please in manner aligned with my preferences and integrity even if you may not agree with it.  But none of that obstructs my willingness and desire help you in anyway that I can.

If for whatever reason you decided that I am not for you that is okay because I don't create for you, I create for myself, I create because I like to look at beautiful (sometimes useless) handcrafted projects, I create because it's good for my soul, I create to see the smile when someone receives one of my cards and lastly I create to ensure that I have a legacy.  

So as I always say - Keep Creating!

Wendy 

Image (C) Adobe

It's All Chipboard

Hi Everyone

Just wanted to share the link for my first ever batch of cards for Imaginarium Designs a great Australian based chipboard company.

Who struggles with confidence to create??? Tick??? Who always compares their own finished product with others??? I used to, BUT I am learning that really really deep down somewhere that I make things to because I love it and for no other reason.  When I'm at retreats or talking shop with people I hear a lot of "but what would you use it for" and I am often compelled to respond by saying probably nothing but making it took me to another place that unless you create "things" you will not understand.  Come on! You know what I'm talking about - that place where there is nothing in your head literally you are thinking about nothing besides the next ribbon or stamp or bow that you want to attach.  Creating is a zen!  Enjoy.

P.S Stay tuned - Custom card orders are coming!!!!

Keep Creating!

Wendy 

Big Big News

Hi Everyone

To all you paper-crafting addicts out there who someday dream of being published or working for huge scrapbooking company or just to simply be on a Design Team, well I am here to tell you that it can happen because................... it has happened to me!! My coming of age so to speak - I finally made a Design Team and what's more important is that it's an Australian chipboard company. Imaginarium Designs has decided to take a chance on a "rookie" and allow me to use their beautiful chipboard to create some cards and other things I might be able to come up with!

I am going to take this opportunity with both hands and cherish it as I believe there is no greater privilege in this industry to represent a company and showcase their products each month to the best of my ability.  I hope you will follow me as I start this new creative journey and be inspired to either re-create my designs or use the techniques to come up your own ideas.

Keep Creating!
Wendy

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Introducing ... Wendy

Hi there.

Today I'd like to introduce you to a new member of our team ... Wendy.

Wendy is an awesome cardmaker and super clever lady - she'll be joining our team this month.

“My paper crafting journey began when I was just 18 (now 42), from the moment I stamped an image and then watch the embossing powder melt (over a toaster) I was hooked.  I have always loved beautiful stationary and papers but when I discovered card making I was in seventh heaven.   I definitely fall into the “card makers” category but I also love to work on off-the-page projects as well. Scrapbooking…….. Let’s just say it doesn’t come naturally to me but rather something I dabble in here and there when the mood takes me.  When I think about my style of design I like to think that I can adapt from grungy to clean and simple without too much trouble, I love chipboard (obviously) I think it just makes a project pop!!! This is my first ever time working on a design team and I am relishing the challenge of developing ideas for using the awesome chipboard manufactured by Imaginarium Designs.  I hope my cards and projects will be a source of inspiration for you to take out your chipboard, inks and powders and just create for no other reason than because you can.”

"Awesome" - Mixed Media Canvas

Good Evening Peeps

Happy Super Moon Monday!!!!

Just popped outside and looked at the glorious super moon tonight and she is simply gorgeous!! Makes me thankful that I can see all the wonderful things that mother nature has to offer,

Speaking of awesome things my last share from Autumn Escape 2016 is this mixed media canvas again designed a taught by the wonderful Jane Tregenza.  

This would have to be my most favourite project from that whole weekend, the colours and composition is perfect, not to mention the good looking man in the photo (who I married four years ago today).

Keep Creating!

Wendy

Do-It-Yourself Stamps

Hi Again

This was another of the classes at Autumn Escape 2016 where the wonderful Vicki Boutin showed us how to made our own stamps from foam and integrated them on a layout.  So in the photo below my stamps are the large pink rose in the lower left side and the couple of green leaves.  The amazing thing is that I don't think they look out of place at all!!

The possibilities for this method are endless - you don't even need to be great a drawing (I'm definitely not).

Keep Creating!
Wendy

Adventure Lies - Jane Tregenza Class

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

Well my faithful old laptop died back in June and I have been putting off getting a new one as I really can't decide what I want and I kind of think things these days should last a hell of a lot longer than they do!!! Mind you everyone is telling me that I got a really good run with it - almost 8 years!!!

Anyway looking back over my posts realised that I haven't shared all the wonderful classes we did over in NZ in April I still have a couple to share.

So this is again an awesome class by Jane Tregenza minus the picture as I haven't printed the one I want to go in there yet ( I know slack aren't I).

I loved Autumn Escape so much that a friend and I are going back next year and I can't wait!

Stay tuned another couple of projects to share during the week.

Hope you have all been creating in my absence!!!

Wendy

Layout not Working for You?

Hey There and Happy Monday!!!!

Okay so picture this you are sitting around with your besties having a scrapbooking day / afternoon / night and one of the girls pulls out a double layout she did in class and states "I really don't like this and don't know what to do with it"!!!! So I have a look at it and state that I will make her some 6 x 6 cards from it (most of you know I am not really a scrapbooker) Tah -Dah!!!! Problem solved - so that was around 9 months ago and today I am sharing how it turned out.  There was some of that goosebump spray on there as well as some sewing so I hope you can see how / where I adapted each segment of the layout.  It was a really good challenge for me and I enjoyed seeing what I could come up with.

P.S. Sorry about the quality of the photos - I was away on retreat (yes another one) and it was about 1am when I finished the last of them.

So I started with this.

And ended up with these little beauties which my lovely friend now has to give to some special people in her life!

Why don't you challenge yourself this week and if something is not working for you creatively - then make something else from it!

Keep Creating!
Wendy

It's A Boy Thing - Jane Tregenza Class

Hello & Happy Saturday

So today is about the boy - I have two wonderful boys in my life and I tend to focus all my energy both in scrapbooking and life on the smallest one as he seems to need the most of me.  So when I was preparing my photos to take over to Autumn Escape Retreat in NZ I wanted to focus the layouts around my husband.

The class with Jane Tregenza "It's a Boy Thing" was perfect for this, the colour palette is one of my favourites and all the fussy cutting was definitely worth it when you see the end result.  The picture does not do this layout justice & there are no words to describe how happy I am with the finished product.

Keep Creating!
Wendy

Autumn Escape Taupo NZ - Classes

Hello & Happy Thursday

Just a real quick one today, a few weeks ago now I was  lucky enough to attend the Autumn Escape Retreat in Taupo NZ.  This was the most amazing retreat I have ever attended from the scrapping room to the classes to the food and accommodation everything was first class.  Today I am posting pictures of a Distress Ink technique class we did with the ever so talented Vicki Boutin.  Whilst I have been working with these inks for a while now I was still amazed at their versatility.  So we started with blank tags and created the backgrounds with various colours - the picture does not do them justice.

Pop by again during the week for some more pictures of the other classes we did.

  

Keep Creating!

Wendy

Cards for Sale - eBay

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Okay so you know, you have those friends that want to buy cards from you but you are flat out keeping your own stash up to date!! Well worry no more I have restocked my eBay store so now you can refer them to me for some lovely cards at really competitive prices.

During my hiatus I was able to sort through the 250 or so cards I have and decide to part with some. I have three price categories my larger cards are $5, the normal size are $3 and I also have a $1 range. Postage is only $2.45 up to 500g & 2cm thick (about 3 of the normal & smaller size cards and 2 of the larger ones). So buy a few and save on postage and they will be cheaper than at the newsagents and you will be supporting local business. Couple pictures attached of my current stock.

eBay. Search "handmade cards" within 2km of 4078 and they should pop up. Working on getting the store back up which will make it easier.

Keep Creating!

Wendy

Decorated Salt & Pepper Shakers

Well Hello There 


I know, I know I haven't posted for about six months!!! But as mentioned in the blog post before I went AWOL the first half of 2016 has just been crazy busy.  Whilst I'm not going to give you all the details just briefly there was a 3 week snowboarding trip to Japan, Scrapbooking Retreats to the value of 3 (including one in NZ) and many, many other full weekends of paper deliciousness (don't even know if that is a word).

So the time off has allowed some reflection on how, why & when I do what I do, both personally and professionally.  I love the papercrafting industry, at the same time I understand how hard it is to keep your head above water when you have a business in this industry. Make no mistake you have to sell a lot of paper at $1.70 to make the rent! The recent announcement of the closure of another couple of bricks and mortar stores here is Brisbane is really really sad.  Ladies I say this to you, I know it is cheaper (in some cases) to buy on-line I don't refute that argument but when you sit there and look at all the items you have accumulated in your craft room / cupboard / studio how many of you can really say that you absolutely know how to use everything!! Youtube is only going to get you so far and then you need someone to show you in person the full potential of all your crafting goodies.  Just think about it for a minute!

Okay I am off my soap box and would love to share some cool Salt & Pepper Shakers that I made with the idea of storing the smaller brads etc in them.  BUT someone at a recent scrap retreat mentioned I should actually see if there are any cafe's which would be interested in using them as they were intended.  So feel free to get in contact with me if you think this is something you would be interested in. So I have used mostly washi tape and a few embellishments I had lying around the place. They are sooooo cute and perfect all those little bits floating around in the bottom of your craft tote.  


Other Info: Classes will be commencing later in the year from my home and as mentioned I am working on a new website / blog / store for the Stampin Up side of the business, stay tuned for this I am super excited. I will continue to share my own designs & projects on this blog as well as sneak peaks on what I have been up to in the last 6 months.

Salt & Pepper Shakers

Thanks for stopping by!

Keep Creating (I have been)!
Wendy

Stampin' Up! - New Catalogues

Again It's Me!

This is like three posts in one night but some very important news I just posted on Facebook.

The release of two new Stampin' Up! catalogues is less than a month away!!! Woot Woot!!! So all my regular clients will receive a copy free in the mail and those who are Stampin' Up! curious, either about the products (which are beautiful) or hosting your own party to earn free stuff, just send me a message, no obligation consultation available (over wine of course) or just ask me to send you a free brochure!

Some further information on plans for early next year, I am going to separate out the Stampin Up! side of the business with a brand new Website, Blog & Facebook page so stay tuned for links etc to be provided. Kits Kits Kits need I say more (super popular), these will be available in limited numbers every couple of months - and I am on-boarding with a new / old concept of virtual parties - you don't even have to leave the house!!! If you are interested being the host you will get the same free goodies as if you have hosted in the flesh!!! So if you live in Brisvegas and your mum is in WA and your stampin up mates are scattered all over the place we just set a time and date and they all log onto Facebook and we party until the break of dawn (or until I say enough is enough)!!!! If you are keen to do this send me a private message and I will add you to the list and contact you when I am ready to kick off!

(Big Sigh)

Keep Creating!
Wendy

Newsflash - Classes

Me Again!

Just wanted to share some information for my Blog followers as some of you may not have seen this information on Facebook:-

NEWS - So just wanted to let everyone know that the 6th December will be my last class until July 2016. There are a couple reasons for this, firstly at the moment due to other commitments I can't give the classes the full attention they need, secondly the first half of next year I will be doing a lot of travelling, attending retreats and workshops (to gain some further skills). So I will be using the next 6 months to actually prepare all class samples for the second half of next year. The other reason is that I want to change the format of the classes to a bi-monthly event held over a Sat & Sun with a special guest teacher from the Brisbane area to teach at least one class in an intimate setting (max 10). 
I still plan to run super-scraps during this time and will also from time to time have kits available for purchase as these have been very popular. If you have any questions feel free to give me a call or drop me a line.


Keep Creating!
Wendy

Graphic 45 "A Christmas Carol" Christmas Cards

Hi All

Today posting some photos of our gorgeous Graphic 45 "A Christmas Carol" card class held early this month.

Keep Creating!
Wendy

Retro Cork Board

Yep Me Again!!!

The next project we did last month involved a shopping trip where I picked up the following items:-

And turned them into this:-

Just a bit of information on how we achieved the look so I started by laying down some pages from an old novel and inked with vintage photo distress ink and sprayed with a bit of water. To stick these on the cork I used a multi medium and waited for that to dry then using a template I mixed some distress ink with the same multi medium to create the green rays - you could use whatever colour is your fav.  Then it was a matter of gather all the elements together and inking and using a bit of glitter.  I picked a photo from the 70's but anything would work and a few of my ladies changed the colour theme to blue and pink/purple and it looked just as good.

P.S So much fun ripping the clock apart and the cork fits perfectly.

Keep Creating!
Wendy